The Scarlets Read Online Free PDF Page B

studying Cal closely.
    Diplomatic, be diplomatic, even if you have to channel Micah.
    “She’s . . . cool, I guess. Seemed smart. I like her.”
    Where was this going?
    “Strange little girl, don’t you think? I don’t like her at all. Keeps trying to break into secure networks on campus and snoop around. It’s probably nothing, but we can’t take these things lightly.” Roger adjusted his tie, then smoothed it down fussily with both hands. “She’s a hacker, Cal. She’s trouble. She’s rooting around in college archives for a lark, and I don’t like it.”
    His tone was icy again.
    Cal started and stopped his answer a few times. “I don’t get it. You hooked me up with her. I thought I was getting help with my English essay.”
    “Yes. I always prefer to kill two birds with one stone when I can,” Roger said, smiling mildly. “But now I have this,” he added, patting the pocket with Cal’s list, “which means plan A it is. You do something for me, and we get you what you want.”
    We?
    Cal laughed. He had to—this was absurd. Since when was his father at all interested in giving Cal what he wanted, instead of just forcing him to do what Roger himself wanted? “Unless you secretly have mind-control powers, that’ll be kind of difficult.”
    Roger smiled and leaned across his desk to open a drawer on the other side. After a moment, he withdrew something small and glassy, the greenish surface reflecting the sunlight streaming through his office window.
    “We’re at a crossroads, Cal,” Roger said, beckoning him over with an eerie look in his eye. When Cal looked at his father, he didn’t see so much of himself anymore. He didn’t recognize this man. “You take this and plant it somewhere in Fallon’s dorm room. You do that, and things will be different. Better. I promise.”
    Cal drifted across the carpet, hesitating. He saw the little glass cylinder in his father’s hand and felt his heart plummet. It was a pipe, and not for smoking tobacco. If he put this in Fallon’s room, he could get her into all kinds of trouble. . . .
    “She already has two strikes for tampering with college security,” Roger continued, holding out the pipe. Cal stared at it, feeling his hand twitch. “One more strike and she won’t be a problem anymore.”
    “A problem ? And this is how you handle a problem? Roger, I don’t want to get her kicked out,” he said, feeling suddenly like a child, naive. “She seems nice.”
    “I’m sure she does seem nice, Cal. I’m sure she seemed very nice when she was trying to solicit your help breaking into my computer.”
    Cal flinched, and Roger smirked.
    “Just as I thought. She’s trouble, Cal. And the last thing you need is more trouble.” Cal closed his fingers around the pipe, but Roger didn’t let go, yanking him closer. “So I’m asking you, politely but firmly , to come to the other side. If you really want what’s best for you and Ms. Seems Nice , you’ll say yes.”
    The pipe came free and Cal stumbled back a step. His eyes flicked to Roger’s pocket, where his list was hidden.
    “If I don’t do it?” he whispered. His lips were painfully dry.
    “There are others currently on the right side who could go right back to being in trouble.” Now his tone wasn’t ice but steel, and when Cal met his father’s eyes, they pierced. “Micah, for example.”
    Cal’s fingers turned into a fist around the pipe. “He spent a few weeks in juvie for theft—who cares? It’s not even that big of a deal. Nobody would expel him for that.”
    “Theft?” Roger’s head hung back as he laughed. “Is that what he told you?” His laughter died down, and then the steel was back in his gaze. “You’re even more out of touch than I thought.”
    Roger stopped there, but Cal refused to give him the satisfaction of asking for an explanation.
    “Fine,” he said. “I’ll do it your way, then. Just . . . I don’t want Fallon to get in too much trouble.”
    Roger waved